Apparatus for circulating liquids in tanks.



No. 758,430. Y PATBNTBD APR. 26,1904.

G. E. DUNTON. APPARATUS FOR GIRGULATING LIQUIDS SIN TANKS.

APPLIOATION rum) SEPT. 15, 1002. I no MODEL. 2 SHEETS-$113311.

Witnesses W 3331 ,I l I I -PATENTED APR. 26, 1904.

G. E. DUNTOIQI. APPARATUS FOR. GIRGULATING LIQUIDS IN TANKS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 15 1903.

I0 IODEL.

UNITED STATES GEORGE E. DUNTON,

Patented April 26, 1904.

PATENT QFFIQEO OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 7 58,4 30, dated April 26, 1904. Applicatiqn filed Septembea 15, 1903. Serial Iilov 173,273. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

lowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in apparatus for continually and tho-roughly agitating all kinds of liquids in tanks or other receptacles, but is more especially designed for use in continually circulating and thoroughly agitating depositing-solutions in all kinds of electrolytic baths in a definite direction. It has for its object to provide an apparatus which will liftthe heavier and acid portions of the liquid from the bottom to the top of the tank, continually moving it, and thereby insuring a thorough incorporation throughout the whole body of the liquid, not allowing the said liquid to lie at the bottom of the tank, as would be the case if such circulation and thorough agitation were not continually going on, and at the same time not disturbing the sediment at the bottom of the tank. It further has for its object to make the deposits of the metal at the cathodes finer in grain and tougher in texture, to render the time of the deposits shorter, to keep the solution from becoming heated in the process of Working, and to provide an apparatus with a pump or pumps the discharge nozzles of which are located preferably at or near the upper portion of the tank.

My invention consists of a containing-tank 'for the liquid composing the electrolytic bath having means for impartinga definite and con' tinu ous' circulating or approxlmately circular motlon of the solution to force 1t around the tank and around and between the anodes and pertains to pumps having suitable inlets or inlet-strainers near the lower ends of the suction-pipes and outlet-pipes discharging at a point just below the level of the liquid contained in the tank,

one of said outlet-pipes discharging on one side of the tank and the other 0utlet-pipe discharging on the opposite side of the tank.

My invention still further consists in the construction, combination,'and arrangement of .the several parts comprising the apparatus, as

more fully hereinafter described and claimed.

Referring to the drawings, which illustrate my invention, Figure 1 is a top plan view; Fig. 2, a vertical cross-section on line :0 a of Fig. 1; Figs. 3 and 4, detail views of one of the pumps; Fig. 5, a top plan view of a modified form. of my invention more especially adapted to the deposition of the copper shells used in electrotyping and in which the anodes andcathodes are arranged crosswise of the tank and the discharge-nozzles of the outletpipes are arranged to direct the liquid across the tank between the anodes and cathodes.

In the drawings, in which like numerals of reference denote like parts throughout the several views, 1 designates an electrolytic or 1 containing tank, having anodes 2 and cathodes 3 arranged lengthwise of the same on opposite sides and supported on rods or bars 4: by means of links 5. Located at one end and at the top of the tank are centrifugal turbinepumps 6 and 7, having casings 8 and 9, re-

spectively, said casing 8 having a pipe 10 leading therefrom providediwith-a nozzle 11 designed to discharge liquid lengthwise of the tank and between the anodes and cathodes on one sideof the tank, and said casing 9 having a pipe 12 leading therefrom along one side and end of the tank and provided with a nozzle 13 designed to discharge liquid lengthwise'of the tank and between the anodes and cathodes on the opposite side of the tank fromthe nozzle 11. preferably, in parallel planes in diagonally opposite corners of the tank for the purpose of giving increased motion to thebody of the liquid therein, one of the nozzles accelerating the movement of the liquid produced by the other nozzle. By this arrangement of the discharge-nozzles I produce a primary mo- Said nozzles are arranged,

' mately the same.

tion or circulation along the sides and across the ends of the tank, a circular motion in the middle of the tank, and these motions being supplemented by a steady suction from the inlet or suction pipes of the pump at the bottom of the tank the liquid will be drawn downward to the bottom of the tank, which will keep the lighter gases, especially the hydrogen, from escaping and becoming lost in the atmosphere above the tank, which is an especially valuable feature.

Each pump is suspended by a spider or hanger at the top of the tank and provided with a suction-pipe 15, which reaches nearly to the bottom of the tank, a vertical shaft 16, provided at its upper end with a bevel-gear 17. 18 is a horizontal shaft, one end provided with bevel-gear 19, which meshes with bevelgear 17, and the opposite end with a gear 20. A small motor 21, preferably electric, is mounted on the outside of the tank and is provided with a shaft 22, having a gear 23, which is situated between and gears and drives both of the gears 20 in the same direction, and thereby imparts motion toboth of the pumps at the same time.

ing in size from the pumps to the end of the tank-that is, the nozzles 27 are smaller than the nozzles 26, and nozzles 26 are smaller than nozzles 25-which gives an equal or approximately even discharge of the electrolyte from the several nozzles both in velocity and in volume, so that the action between .the several sets of anodes and cathodes is approxi- The discharge from the nozzles at one side of the tank is in an opposite direction from those on the opposite side and is between the alternate sets of anodes and cathodes, which gives to the liquid a compound centripetal motion in the form of well-dcfined elongated ellipses, the motion being around each set of anodes and the point of axis between each set of anodes and cathodes. Besides the centripetal motion there will be a gradual drawing of the liquid from the top to the bottom of the tank, which will present the same advantages as the apparatus first described.

The pumps being at the top of the tank and the seat of disturbance farther from the points of inlet, the pumps may be operated at a great rate of speed without disturbing any of the sediment which is often found at the bottom of the tanks.

The operation is as follows: The electrolytic bath having been properly prepared and the pumps set in motion by starting the motor, the heavy solution is drawn in through the lower ends of the suction-pipes from the bottom of the tank at one end and discharges through in its passage from the anodes to the cathodes and a downward motion and gives excellent results and not only prevents polarization at the cathode, and thereby prevents the retarding of the deposition of the metal, but prevents the escape of the valuable gaseous elements of the electrolytic deposition from rising and escaping to the atmosphere as they reach both anode and cathode by drawing them down into the solution at the time of development while they are in their nascent state and free to unite with the other elements of the solution and performing their respective functions at the right moment-that is to say, the water contained in the electrolytic bath is split up into its two constituent elements by the action of the electric current acting as a chemical agent. The oxygen appears and is attracted to the. anode, for which it exhibits a very'marked' affinity in its nascentor newly-- formed state, having the property of uniting with the metal in the formation of an oxid of the metal covering the surface of the exposed the electric current. During this period of acness of the oxid until all action ceases, and

what oxygen is produced finds its way up to the atmosphere above the tank. By my improvements the agitation carries the gas (oxygen) away from the anode and down into the solution, and it washes the oxid of the metal from the anode-plate as fast as formed, carrying it out into the solution, where it has more range to unite with the hydrogen which it replaces in the formation of the sulfate of the metal. It will at once become evident that the range of action is much greater than when confined to the immediate surface of the anodeplate.

At the cathode in the quiet bath there is an excess of hydrogen, especially if the current of gas from the surface of the cathode, but

draws it down into the liquid, prevents it escaping to the atmosphere above the tubs or tanks, and increases its range of action by carrying it from the cathode at the moment of its formation, when it will readily unite with the surrounding oxygen in the formation of water.

I do not desire to be understood as limiting myself to the specific details of construction and arrangement as herein described and illustrated, as it is manifest that variations andmodifications may be made in the features of construction and arrangement on the adaptation of the device to various conditions of use without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention and improvements. I therefore reserve the right to all such variations and modifications as properly fall within the scope of my invention and the termsof the following claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. An apparatus for producing continual and definite agitation and circulation of liquids, comprising a receptacle provided with means for producing a circulation of liquids around said receptacle in a substantially horizontal plane, and from the top downward, substantially as described.

2. An apparatus for producing continual and definite agitation and circulation of liquids, comprising a receptacle provided with pipes connected with suitable pumps, said pipes provided with nozzles designed to discharge liquid lengthwise of the said receptacle, substantially as described.

. 3. An apparatus for producing continual and definite agitationand circulation of liquids, comprising a tank provided with a suction device, having pipes provided with nozzles, one of said nozzles being diagonally disposed in relation to the other, substantially as described.

4. An apparatus for producing continual and definite agitation and circulation of liquids, comprising a tank provided with pipes connected to a suitable pump, one of said pipes provided with a nozzle arranged to discharge liquid on one side lengthwise of the tank and the other pipe provided with a nozzle arranged to discharge liquid on the opposite side and lengthwise of the tank, substantially as described.

5. An apparatus for producing continual and definite agitation and circulation of liquids comprising a tank provided with a suction device, having pipes each. provided with a nozzle, said nozzles arranged at difl erent points at the top of the tank just below the level of the liquid therein, adapted to discharge liquid lengthwise of the said tank, one of said nozzles designed to accelerate the movement of the liquid produced by the other nozzle substantially as described.

6. An apparatus for producing continual and definite agitation and circulation of liquids comprising a tank, anodes and cathodes therein arranged lengthwise thereof, a. pump provided with pipes having nozzles, one of said nozzles designed to discharge liquid at one end of the tank lengthwise of said anodes and cathodes and the other to discharge liquid at the opposite end of the tank lengthwise of said anodes and cathodes, substantially as described.

7 An apparatus for producing continual and definite agitation and circulation of liquids, comprising a receptacle provided with pipes at the top thereof each connected to a suitable pump and each provided with a nozzle, said nozzles being located at different points in said receptacle and designed to discharge liquid in a substantially horizontal plane along the walls and toward the middle of said receptacle, substantially as described.

liquids composing an electrolytic bath, comprising a tank, pumps at the top of the tank having pipes and discharge-nozzles in the same horizontal plane, and one of said nozzles arranged in advance of. and accelerating the movement of the liquid produced by the other nozzle, substantially as described.

-9. ,An apparatus for producing continual and definite agitation and circulation of liquids, comprising a tank provided with a suction device at the upper portion thereof hav. ing pipes provided With nozzles arranged to discharge liquid in a substantially horizontal plane entirely around and just below the level of the liquid in said tank, substantially as described. 1

10. An apparatus for producing continual and definite agitation and circulation of the liquids composing an electrolyticbath, comprising a tank, a centrifugal pump having a suction-pipe, a casing at the upper end of said suction-pipe having outlet-pipes leading therefrom to different points near the top of the tank, one of said outlet-pipes arranged in advance of the other for the purpose of accelerating the movement of the liquidin said tank,

said horizontal shaft, substantially as de- I scribed. I V

11. An apparatus for producing continual and definite agitation and circulation of liquids comprising a tank provided with a suction device at the upper portion thereof having pipes provided with nozzles,- one of said nozzles being diagonally disposed in relation to the other, substantially as described.

12. An apparatus for producing continual and definite agitation and circulation of liquids, comprising a tank provided with a suction device at the upper portion thereof having pipes each provided with a nozzle, one of said nozzles arranged in advance of and designed to accelerate the movement of the liquid produced by the other nozzle, substantially as described.

13. An apparatus for producing continual and definite agitation and circulation of liquids, comprising a receptacle with a suction device at the upper portion thereof, pipes connected to said suction device provided with nozzles, said nozzles being located at difierent points in said receptacle, and one of said nozzles designed to accelerate the movement of the liquid produced by the other nozzle, substantially as described.

14. An apparatus for producing continual and definite agitation and circulation of liquids comprising a receptacle provided with a suction device provided with pipes, one of'said pipes extending along the side and one end of said receptacle and provided with a nozzle designed to discharge liquid lengthwise thereof, and the other pipe extending along the opposite end of said receptacle and provided with a nozzle designed to discharge liquid lengthwise of said receptacle, one of said nozzles designed to accelerate the movement of liquid produced by the other nozzle, substantially as 

